Everything water, from mill to fort

Nieuwkoop is located in the polder and is a peat-fened lake area that originated in the 16th century. It covers a small part of the Nieuwkoopse Plassen nature reserve. The lakes are often used for water recreation, with a large marina nearby, you will mainly see cabin boats in this area. The water is quite pure and has strong plant growth. Water gentian and water lily, but also drifts of water hemlock and fields of crabgrass are no exception. A wide diversity of marsh birds lives in and around the banks and meadows. The increasingly rare black tern, but also the great and little reed warbler and the mustache like to breed here. Fish eaters such as the purple heron and the cormorant survive on what the lakes have to offer them. The small, winding peat river the Mije leads through the polder and the meadow area and adds extra atmosphere to the area, where many centuries-old, characteristic farms can still be seen.

From the parking lot you cycle to the Aarlanderveen Mill No. 4. This mill is located about one kilometer west of Aarlanderveen and is also called the Putmolen. The mill is part of the Molenviergang Aarlanderveen and was built in 1801 to drain the lowest part of the polder, called De Put. Here, after peat extraction, a large peat pond had formed, which had to be drained.

Another part of the same mill corridor is the Ondermolen, which is also called Mill No. 1 is mentioned. The current mill dates from 1924, but replaced a mill from 1786 that burned down. The mill was built with parts from a mill that had previously become redundant in Zoetermeer. Mill no. 1 was the gauge mill and gave the signal to the other mills to start or stop drainage of the polder.

You cycle further to the Nieuwkoopse Plassen, and in Nieuwkoop it might be nice to visit the Nieuwkoopse Plassen Visitor Center. Or you can cycle further to Fort aan de Drecht. Construction of this fort started in 1884. The fort consists of a main building, which does not have a front building but a postern. The front wall has been well preserved, and the fort keeper's house and the mountain shed have been rebuilt. The fort is surrounded by a moat. You can enter the fort via a reconstructed access bridge.

The Fort at Kudelstaart is also an interesting sight. The fort was built at the end of the nineteenth century. The first earthworks took place in 1890 and the fortress itself was built in 1905 and 1906. In appearance, the fort has been well preserved; One of the two fort keeper's houses and the mountain shed are still there. The moat surrounds the fortress unchanged, although the access bridge has been replaced by two dams. The original situation around the fort has also been preserved; the surrounding water infrastructure is virtually unchanged. The rest of the polder has now been prepared for greenhouse cultivation, which puts the fort in greater contrast with its surroundings.